William Wayne Justice

Justice died on October 13, 2009, in Austin, Texas. Though Governor William Perry Clements Jr., had frequently quarreled with Justice, Bill Hobby, the Democrat from Houston and the lieutenant governor under both of Clements' nonconsecutive terms, lauded the judge: "Judge Justice dragged Texas into the 20th century. God bless him. He was very unpopular, but he was doing the right thing."

On November 16, 2006, Justice received the first "Morris Dees Justice Award" given annually to a lawyer who has devoted his career to serving the public interest and pursuing justice, and whose work has brought about positive change in the community, state, or nation. It was created by the international law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and The University of Alabama School of Law to honor Morris Dees for his lifelong devotion to public service. Dees, who is co-founder and chief trial counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama, presented the award at a ceremony in Skadden offices in New York City.

In 2004, the William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law was established in his honor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law. The Justice Center promotes equal justice for all through legal education, scholarship and public service.

In 1972, Texas prison inmate David Ruiz filed a fifteen page handwritten civil rights complaint alleging he was confined under unconstitutional conditions, harassed by prison officials, given inadequate medical care, and subjected to unlawful solitary confinement. His complaint was combined with others to become a class action suit (Ruiz v. Estelle, 550 F.2d 238). The trial, which began in October 1978, lasted a year. In a 118-page, 1979 decision, Judge Justice ruled that the conditions of imprisonment within the TDC prison system constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the United States Constitution. The decision led to federal oversight of the system, with a prison construction boom and "sweeping reforms ... that fundamentally changed how Texas prisons operated."

In November 1970, Justice notably ordered the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to desegregate its schools in United States v. Texas, which is regarded as one of the most extensive desegregation orders in legal history as it encompassed over a thousand school districts and nearly two million students. It was upheld by the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. At that time, many schools in Texas, particularly those in East Texas, remained segregated and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) referred the matter to the Department of Justice as it had limited powers to enforce desegregation laws.

Justice was nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson on April 25, 1968, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated by Judge Joseph Warren Sheehy. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 6, 1968, and received his commission on June 7, 1968. He served as Chief Judge from 1980 to 1990. He assumed senior status on June 30, 1998. His service terminated on October 13, 2009, due to his death in Austin, Texas.

Born in Athens, Texas, Justice received a Bachelor of Laws from University of Texas School of Law in 1942. He was in the United States Army from 1942 to 1946. He was in private practice of law in Athens from 1946 to 1961. He was a city attorney of Athens from 1948 to 1950 and from 1952 to 1958. He was United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas from 1961 to 1968.

William Wayne Justice (February 25, 1920 – October 13, 2009) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.